Gustav Freytag: Pictures of German Life, 1862–63) were originally contributed to Die Grenzboten and give a vivid and popular account of the history of the Germans, in which Freytag stresses the idea of folk character as determinative in history. His collected works, Gesammelte Werke, 22 vol. (1886–88)…

Harun Farocki: For his critically acclaimed Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges (1988; Images of the World and the Inscription of War), he showed blurry aerial images of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp that had been taken in 1944 by the Allies. The film then reveals that the photographs…

Bilderberg Meetings, annual meetings attended by 120 to 150 political leaders, government officials, and experts from industry, finance, media, and academia in Europe and North America. The meetings, held in a different European or North American country each year, provide a private, informal

Bilderberg Meetings, annual meetings attended by 120 to 150 political leaders, government officials, and experts from industry, finance, media, and academia in Europe and North America. The meetings, held in a different European or North American country each year, provide a private, informal

Willem Bilderdijk, Dutch poet who had considerable influence not only on the poetry but also on the intellectual and social life of the Netherlands. Born of a strongly Calvinist and monarchist family, Bilderdijk had a crippled foot and spent a precocious childhood among books. After studying law at

Sweden: Domestic affairs through the 1990s: …Party, under the leadership of Carl Bildt. The Moderates received 22.1 percent of the vote and took 80 seats in the Riksdag, while the Social Democrats lost 18 seats. As a result, the nonsocialist parties controlled 170 seats (not a majority) against only a combined 154 for the Social Democrats…

Bildungsroman, class of novel that depicts and explores the manner in which the protagonist develops morally and psychologically. The German word Bildungsroman means “novel of education” or “novel of formation.” The folklore tale of the dunce who goes out into the world seeking adventure and learns

Bile, greenish yellow secretion that is produced in the liver and passed to the gallbladder for concentration, storage, or transport into the first region of the small intestine, the duodenum. Its function is to aid in the digestion of fats in the duodenum. Bile is composed of bile acids and salts,

lipid: Bile acids:
The bile acids and their salts are detergents that emulsify fats in the gut during digestion. They are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver by a series of reactions that introduce a hydroxyl group into ring B and ring C and shorten the…

endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatoscopy: …is used to examine the bile duct and pancreatic ducts for the presence of gallstones, tumours, or inflammation. In this procedure an endoscope is passed through the stomach into the duodenum to visualize the ampulla of Vater, the

heterocyclic compound: Five-membered rings with one heteroatom: The bile pigments are formed by decomposition of the porphyrin ring and contain a chain of four pyrrole rings. Bilirubin, for example, the brownish yellow pigment that gives feces its characteristic colour, is the end product of the breakdown of heme from destroyed red blood cells.

ileum: … and the reabsorption of conjugated bile salts. The ileum is about 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) long (or about three-fifths the length of the small intestine) and extends from the jejunum (the middle section of the small intestine) to the ileocecal valve, which empties into the colon (large intestine). The ileum…

atresia and stenosis: Bile-duct atresia is a condition that is always accompanied by severe jaundice and that limits the person’s capacity to digest fatty foods. Survival for a few years is possible, and in a small but increasing number of cases, surgery is effective.

Bilecik, city, northwestern Turkey. Bilecik lies along the Karasu River, a tributary of the Sakarya River. It was captured from the Byzantines by the Ottoman ruler Osman I in 1298. The city and its famous silk industry suffered heavily during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–22), when it was

Simone Biles, American gymnast who was considered one of the sport’s greatest athletes. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she became the first female U.S. gymnast to win four gold medals at a single Games, and she was the first gymnast to win three consecutive world all-around titles

Simone Biles, American gymnast who was considered one of the sport’s greatest athletes. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she became the first female U.S. gymnast to win four gold medals at a single Games, and she was the first gymnast to win three consecutive world all-around titles

Georg Bernhard Bilfinger, German philosopher, mathematician, statesman, and author of treatises in astronomy, physics, botany, and theology. He is best known for his Leibniz-Wolffian philosophy, a term he coined to refer to his own position midway between those of the philosophers Gottfried Wilhelm

Bilge, khagan, or great khan, of Mongolia from 716 until his death. His name literally translates as “Wise Emperor.” Bilge assumed leadership of the T’u-chüeh, a tribe of Turks in control of southern Central Asia, when his brother instigated a palace coup against the old ruler. When the T’ang

Bilge, khagan, or great khan, of Mongolia from 716 until his death. His name literally translates as “Wise Emperor.” Bilge assumed leadership of the T’u-chüeh, a tribe of Turks in control of southern Central Asia, when his brother instigated a palace coup against the old ruler. When the T’ang

harbours and sea works: Keel and bilge blocks:
Keel and bilge blocks, on which the ship actually rests when dry-docked, are of a sufficient height above the floor of the dock to give reasonable access to the bottom plates. Such blocks are generally made of cast steel with renewable timber caps…

ship: Ship motions in response to the sea: …ships are fitted with “bilge keels” in an attempt to dampen roll. These are long, narrow fins projecting from the hull in the area where the bottom of the hull meets the side. Bilge keels are effective in reducing roll, but they are much less effective than other measures.…

ship: Ship motions in response to the sea: …ships are fitted with “bilge keels” in an attempt to dampen roll. These are long, narrow fins projecting from the hull in the area where the bottom of the hull meets the side. Bilge keels are effective in reducing roll, but they are much less effective than other measures.…

India: Reforms of the British Liberals: …at Whitehall: one a Muslim, Sayyid Husain Bilgrami, who had taken an active role in the founding of the Muslim League; the other a Hindu, Krishna G. Gupta, the senior Indian in the ICS. Morley also persuaded a reluctant Lord Minto to appoint to the viceroy’s executive council the first…

South Asian arts: Transition to the Mughal and Rajasthani styles: …Bhāgavata-Purā?a and the Caurapa?cā?ikā of Bilha?a, scattered in collections all over the world. A technically more refined variant of this style, preferring the pale, cool colours of Persian derivation, a fine line, and meticulous ornamentation, exists contemporaneously and is best illustrated by a manuscript of the ballad Candāmyana by Mullā…

Schistosomiasis, group of chronic disorders caused by small, parasitic flatworms (family Schistosomatidae) commonly called blood flukes. Schistosomiasis is characterized by inflammation of the intestines, bladder, liver, and other organs. Next to malaria, it is probably humanity’s most serious

Schistosomiasis, group of chronic disorders caused by small, parasitic flatworms (family Schistosomatidae) commonly called blood flukes. Schistosomiasis is characterized by inflammation of the intestines, bladder, liver, and other organs. Next to malaria, it is probably humanity’s most serious

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy, city, southernmost Ukraine. It lies on the southwestern shore of the broad, shallow Dniester River estuary. In the 6th century bc, Greeks from Miletus established the colony of Tyras on the site. It later came under the Scythians, and it was settled by Slavs in early Kievan

atresia and stenosis: Bile-duct atresia is a condition that is always accompanied by severe jaundice and that limits the person’s capacity to digest fatty foods. Survival for a few years is possible, and in a small but increasing number of cases, surgery is effective.

Biliary dyskinesia, obscure functional disorder related in some way to the workings of the biliary tract, the structures that serve to secrete, transport, and store bile. The complaint is characterized by spasmodic pain over the pit of the stomach, tenderness in this area, nausea, and vomiting.

human digestive system: Biliary tract:
The biliary tract begins with the appearance of two large ducts, the right and left hepatic ducts, at the porta hepatis, a groove that separates two lobes on the right side of the liver. Just below the porta hepatis, these 1- to…

Bilin, any biological pigment (biochrome) belonging to a series of yellow, green, red, or brown nonmetallic compounds that are formed as a metabolic product of certain porphyrins. In addition to their presence in the bile pigments of mammals, bilins also occur in invertebrates, lower vertebrates, r

Bielefeld, city, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies on the northern edge of the hilly Teutoburg Forest. First mentioned as Bilifelde in the biography of Bishop Meinwerk of Paderborn between 1015 and 1036, the old town was probably founded and chartered in 1214 by

Malaysia: Rural settlement: …both Iban and Malay) as bilik; each bilik houses a family. A longhouse can grow by accretions of related families, and an Iban longhouse, for example, may in time reach a length of dozens of bilik. Many groups, especially the Melanau of Sarawak and the Kadazan of Sabah, have abandoned…

Karakorum: In 1368, Bilikt Khan, the son of Togon Timur, the last emperor of the Mongol dynasty of China, who had been banished from Peking, returned to Karakorum, which was partly rebuilt. It was then known as Erdeni Dzu (the Mongol name for Buddha), because during the 13th…

Bilin, any biological pigment (biochrome) belonging to a series of yellow, green, red, or brown nonmetallic compounds that are formed as a metabolic product of certain porphyrins. In addition to their presence in the bile pigments of mammals, bilins also occur in invertebrates, lower vertebrates, r

Bilingualism, Ability to speak two languages. It may be acquired early by children in regions where most adults speak two languages (e.g., French and dialectal German in Alsace). Children may also become bilingual by learning languages in two different social settings; for example, British children

Bilingualism, Ability to speak two languages. It may be acquired early by children in regions where most adults speak two languages (e.g., French and dialectal German in Alsace). Children may also become bilingual by learning languages in two different social settings; for example, British children

archaeology: The Mediterranean and the Middle East: …Mycenae in the 1870s; of M.A. Biliotti at Rhodes in this same period; of the German Archaeological Institute under Ernst Curtius at Olympia from 1875 to 1881; and of Alexander Conze at Samothrace in 1873 and 1875. Conze was the first person to include photographs in the publication of his…

protein: Heme proteins and other chromoproteins: Green chromoproteins called biliproteins are found in many insects, such as grasshoppers, and also in the eggshells of many birds. The biliproteins are derived from the bile pigment biliverdin, which in turn is formed from porphyrin; biliverdin contains four pyrrole rings and three of the four methine groups…

Bilirubin, a brownish yellow pigment of bile, secreted by the liver in vertebrates, which gives to solid waste products (feces) their characteristic colour. It is produced in bone marrow cells and in the liver as the end product of red-blood-cell (hemoglobin) breakdown. The amount of bilirubin

digestive system disease: Jaundice: …normal amounts of bilirubin into bilirubin diglucuronide is significantly reduced by inadequate intracellular transport or enzyme systems. The second type, hepatocellular jaundice, arises when liver cells are damaged so severely that their ability to transport bilirubin diglucuronide into the biliary system is reduced, allowing some of this yellow pigment to…

Acker Bilk, (Bernard Stanley Bilk), British jazz musician and bandleader (born Jan. 28, 1929, Pensford, Somerset, Eng.—died Nov. 2, 2014, Bath, Eng.), played clarinet with a full, rich tone and wore a trademark bowler hat while he led the Paramount Jazz Band for more than half a century. Bilk began

Acker Bilk, (Bernard Stanley Bilk), British jazz musician and bandleader (born Jan. 28, 1929, Pensford, Somerset, Eng.—died Nov. 2, 2014, Bath, Eng.), played clarinet with a full, rich tone and wore a trademark bowler hat while he led the Paramount Jazz Band for more than half a century. Bilk began

Beak, stiff, projecting oral structure of certain animals. Beaks are present in a few invertebrates (e.g., cephalopods and some insects), some fishes and mammals, and all birds and turtles. Many dinosaurs were beaked. The term bill is preferred for the beak of a bird, platypus, or dinosaur. Many

Québec Values Charter, statement of principles and subsequent legislation introduced in 2013 to Québec’s National Assembly by the ruling Parti Québécois government that sought the creation of a secular society—a society in which religion and the state would be completely separate. The result of

Gates Foundation, private philanthropic foundation established in 2000 by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and his wife, businesswoman Melinda Gates. It focuses its grant-making and advocacy efforts on eliminating global inequities and increasing opportunities for those in need through programs that

money market: The discount houses: …their origin in the London bill broker who in the early 19th century made the market in inland commercial bills. By selling bills through this market, the growing industrial and urban areas were able to draw upon the surplus savings of the agricultural areas. Quite early many bill brokers began…

Television in the United States: The new cultural landscape: The Bill Cosby Show (1969–71), Julia (1968–71), and The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74) were among the first programs to feature African Americans in starring roles since the stereotyped presentations of Amos ’n’ Andy and Beulah (ABC, 1950–53). Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was

Australia: The ascendance of Australian popular culture: …American band Bill Haley and His Comets, whose Australian tour in 1957 was a sensation. Johnny O’Keefe became the first Australian rock singer to reach the national charts with the release of his hit “Wild One” in 1958. With the exciting new music came the creation of expressive new dance…

ice hockey: The National Hockey League: …coach of the year; the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, for the player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, perseverance, and dedication to hockey; and the Lester Patrick Trophy, for outstanding service to U.S. hockey.

Bill Moyers: …hosted the public affairs program Bill Moyers Journal on PBS (1972–76, 1979–81, 2007–10) and served as a news analyst for CBS News (1981–86). In 1987 he formed Public Affairs TV, Inc., for which he produced such television specials and series as A World of Ideas (1988, 1990), Healing and the…

John Farrow: Films of the 1940s: …clever tale about infidelity, but A Bill of Divorcement was a so-so remake of the 1932 movie by George Cukor, with Maureen O’Hara and Adolphe Menjou in the roles played by Katharine Hepburn and John Barrymore, respectively. Farrow had his biggest hit at Paramount with the patriotic Wake Island (1942),…

Gioachino Rossini: Italian period: …La cambiale di matrimonio (1810; The Bill of Marriage), was performed in Venice and had a certain success, although his unusual orchestration made the singers indignant. Back in Bologna again, he gave the cantata La morte di Didone (1811; The Death of Dido) in homage to the Mombelli family, who…

Kyle Abraham: …he performed briefly with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He soon resumed his studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (TSA). In 2006 he received an M.F.A. and choreographed a riveting solo, Inventing Pookie Jenkins. In that piece Abraham’s movements, alternately fierce and flowing, and…

Kyle Abraham: …he performed briefly with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He soon resumed his studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (TSA). In 2006 he received an M.F.A. and choreographed a riveting solo, Inventing Pookie Jenkins. In that piece Abraham’s movements, alternately fierce and flowing, and…

Buffalo Bill, American buffalo hunter, U.S. Army scout, Pony Express rider, Indian fighter, actor, and impresario who dramatized the facts and flavour of the American West through fiction and melodrama. His colourful Wild West show, which came to be known as Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of

Max Bill, Swiss graphic artist, industrial designer, architect, sculptor, and painter, primarily important for his sophisticated, disciplined advertising designs. Bill’s early ambition was to become a silversmith, but the work of the architect Le Corbusier influenced him to study architecture at

Rajnikanth: …roles in films such as Billa (1980), in which he played a ruthless mafia don, and Murattu Kaalai (1980), in which his character, a dutiful milkman, saves a woman from the man she was supposed to marry, cemented his career as an action superstar. Rajnikanth made his debut in Hindi…

Billiards at Half-Past Nine, novel by Heinrich B?ll, first published in German as Billard um halbzehn in 1959. In its searing examination of the moral crises of postwar Germany, the novel resembles B?ll’s other fiction; its interior monologues and flashbacks, however, make it his most complex work.

Jean-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne, lawyer and pamphleteer, a member of the Committee of Public Safety that ruled Revolutionary France during the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (1793–94). Billaud-Varenne was the son of a lawyer of La Rochelle. After studying at the Universities of Paris and Poitiers,

Billbergia, any member of a genus (Billbergia) of evergreen epiphytes of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), containing more than 50 South American species. Several species are grown indoors as decorative plants for their colourful foliage, flowers, or bracts (leaflike clusters beneath the

rhythm and blues: …charts at the trade journal Billboard and found that the record companies issuing black popular music considered the chart names then in use (Harlem Hit Parade, Sepia, Race) to be demeaning. The magazine changed the chart’s name in its June 17, 1949, issue, having used the term rhythm and blues…

Billboard, advertising structure composed of wood, metal, paper, or a variety of other durable materials, situated outdoors along roads, on buildings, and in public places. In the 19th century, billboards largely replaced bills posted on walls and fences when the competition for space forced

Billbug, (subfamily Rhynchophorinae), any stout-bodied beetle of the family Curculionidae (insect order Coleoptera) that has a short snout and body length up to 5 cm (2 inches). Some (e.g., Rhynchophorus) are found mainly in the tropics, boring through the new growth of palm trees. The larvae of R.

steel: Long products: …made of either blooms or billets, which are, like slabs, considered a semifinished product and are cast by a continuous caster or rolled at a blooming mill. Billets have a cross section 50 to 125 millimetres square, and blooms are 125 to 400 millimetres square. In practice, they are not…

capital: …an oblong block called a billet, set with its greatest dimensions parallel to the beam above. Shaping the ends of such blocks produces a laterally spreading form of capital, which can be elaborated upon by multiplication of parts, addition of moldings, and ornamentation with floral, zoomorphic, or abstract forms.

heraldry: Ordinaries: Billets are oblong figures. If their number exceeds 10 and they are irregularly placed, the field is described as billetté. The pall, or shakefork, is the upper half of a saltire (St. Andrew’s cross) with the lower half of a pale, forming a Y-shape. The…

Fran?ois Billetdoux, French playwright whose works, linked with the avant-garde theatre, examined human relationships and found them doomed to failure. As a youth, Billetdoux studied at the Charles Dullin School of Dramatic Art and the Institute of Higher Cinematographic Studies. From 1949 to 1950,

Mississippi Bubble: …for state-issued public securities, or billets d’état, which consequently also rose sharply in value. A frenzy of wild speculation ensued that led to a general stock-market boom across Europe. The French government took advantage of this situation by printing increased amounts of paper money, which was readily accepted by the…

Unigenitus: …1754 over the issue of billets de confession. The billets were papers affirming submission to the bull that suspected Jansenists were ordered to sign by the archbishop of Paris, Christophe de Beaumont. If they refused, the last sacraments and burial in consecrated ground would be denied them. The Parlement of…

heraldry: Ordinaries: Billets are oblong figures. If their number exceeds 10 and they are irregularly placed, the field is described as billetté. The pall, or shakefork, is the upper half of a saltire (St. Andrew’s cross) with the lower half of a pale, forming a Y-shape. The…

gar: …long and forcepslike in the longnose gar, or billfish (Lepisosteus osseus), but broad and relatively short in the alligator gar (A. spatula) of the southern United States. The alligator gar, reaching a length of about 3 metres (10 feet), is one of the largest of all freshwater fishes. Gars are…

billiards: The billiard balls, formerly made of ivory or Belgian clay, are now usually plastic; they each measure from about 214 to 238 inches (5.7 to 6 cm) in diameter, the larger balls being used in carom billiards.

Billiards, any of various games played on a rectangular table with a designated number of small balls and a long stick called a cue. The table and the cushioned rail bordering the table are topped with a feltlike tight-fitting cloth. Carom, or French, billiards is played with three balls on a table

Billiards, any of various games played on a rectangular table with a designated number of small balls and a long stick called a cue. The table and the cushioned rail bordering the table are topped with a feltlike tight-fitting cloth. Carom, or French, billiards is played with three balls on a table

Billiards at Half-Past Nine, novel by Heinrich B?ll, first published in German as Billard um halbzehn in 1959. In its searing examination of the moral crises of postwar Germany, the novel resembles B?ll’s other fiction; its interior monologues and flashbacks, however, make it his most complex work.

billiards: The traditional mahogany billiards table is still in use, but tables are now generally made of other woods and synthetic materials. The large rectangular table typically is twice as long as it is wide. It has a bed usually of polished slate covered by a woven woolen cloth,…

Michael Jackson: The King of Pop: The follow-up single, “Billie Jean,” an electrifying dance track and the vehicle for Jackson’s trademark “moonwalk” dance, topped the pop charts, as did “Beat It,” which featured a raucous solo from famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Moreover, “Beat It” helped break down the artificial barriers between black and…

Billings, city, seat (1883) of Yellowstone county, south-central Montana, U.S., on the Yellowstone River 3,119 feet (951 metres) above sea level. Billings lies at the base of the Rimrock Mountains in the Clark’s Fork Bottom at a point equidistant from Seattle, Washington, and St. Paul, Minnesota.

John James Billings, Australian physician (born March 5, 1918, Melbourne, Australia—died April 1, 2007 , Richmond, Vic., Australia), devised, with his pediatrician wife, Evelyn, the Billings Ovulation Method, a natural family-planning technique in which a woman could monitor her own fertility by

John Shaw Billings, American surgeon and librarian whose organization of U.S. medical institutions played a central role in the modernization of hospital care and the maintenance of public health. Billings graduated from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1857 and from the Medical College of Ohio

Josh Billings, American humorist whose philosophical comments in plain language were widely popular after the American Civil War through his newspaper pieces, books, and comic lectures. He employed the misspellings, fractured grammar, and hopeless logic then current among comic writers who assumed

William Billings, foremost composer of the early American primitive style, whose works have become an integral part of the American folk tradition. A tanner by trade, he was self-taught in music. Among his friends were many prominent figures of the American Revolution, including Samuel Adams and

Billingsgate, former London market (closed 1982). It was situated in the City of London at the north end of London Bridge beside The Monument, which commemorates the outbreak of the Great Fire of September 1666. In the Middle Ages the wharf at Billingsgate was a principal unloading point for fish,

Pinxton porcelain: …Saxony, with the help of William Billingsley, who had worked as a painter at Derby. Billingsley remained at Pinxton until 1799, concentrating on the production of the porcelain rather than its decoration. He made a ware that contained bone ash, was granular yet transparent, and had a brilliant glaze. He…

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